E-Step Calibration Voxelab Aquila
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- Опубліковано 10 лют 2025
- Using the Voxelab Aquila, two separate ways to calibrate e-steps. Then tune the flow percentage to make sure the nozzle is also putting out the proper amount of filament. You do not need to use both calibration methods, pick whichever you prefer and get your machine tuned up and printing accurately.
Addendum: I should note the calipers I use in this video are only accurate up to 0.1mm. so when using my calipers a reading of 0.81 and 0.87 will both read on my calipers as "0.8". This makes my calipers not wholly accurate, as there could be a large deviation I am not accounting for. It has, however, been my experience that while these calipers aren't accurate to a hundredth of a mm they still provide me with accurate enough results that I feel confident this process is providing me with better prints. This whole reevaluation of my methods has made me consider upgrading to a more accurate (yet still inexpensive) pair, and I thank @AlexeySychev for that, as this is the user who pointed out this inaccuracy. So if your callipers, like mine, are only accurate to a tenth of a mm I still recommend using them for these calibrations, some calibration is better than none. However if you are in the market for a set of calipers and plan on performing these calibrations (which you should!) Then I recommend searching for calipers that can read up to at least a hundredth of a millimeter (0.01).
This is the newest set of calipers I purchased from Harbor Freight
www.harborfrei...
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This guy has the best beginner tutorials for 3d printing on YT. So helpful
Wow thank you so much! Comments like this really motivate me because the end goal of all my videos is to reach beginners and keep get their prints looking as good as possible!! Thanks for leaving this comment!
honestly wasn't sure what to expect when I first opened up this vid but this is the easiest explanation of this stuff that I've heard so far as a newcomer. thanks a tonne.
You're welcome! That's the aim, my videos are a little longer than average because I am trying to explain as much of the process as I can. Glad to hear it's helping.
The easiest to understand explanation of both e-step and flow calibration I've ever seen. Thanks.
Thank you! Glad this video helped and thanks for letting me know!
Well done, if I need to learn about my X2, your video's are the most precise and easy to understand. Thank You, keep up the great work.
Thanks Terry! I'm trying to make these videos easy to understand and filled with info. Sometimes the videos can go a little long but I try and stuff as much content I can inside lol ! Thanks for commenting and I am glad these videos are helping!
Thanks for making this, it was the only one i found that was clear and straight forward.
Thanks! I try and be concise while covering the basics for anyone that is new to the hobby. I appreciate the comment and happy printing!
Have learned so much from you. I hv been printing for 6 months and I don't know how anything worked LOL. Mosty it didn't ... Thanks haeps mate :)))
I'm glad I can help you learn and that you're sticking with it! 3d printing can be a tough hobby but ultimately it can be so rewarding! Thanks for watching and commenting and I promise to keep putting out helpful content.
Very helpful and explains the WHY! Thanks for the assistance
You're very welcome!! I always try and break down these concepts to the how and the why, I think it helps to grasp the concept that way. I appreciate the comment!
Mate you just made that process so straight forward. Another fantastic walkthrough, Cheers!
Thanks again! I really appreciate the feedback and the comments.
Thank you! Still learning the basics with this printer and I’m glad to see others having good luck too.
Hey man! I just picked one of these up a couple of weeks ago as my first 3D printer. This video helped a ton! Earner a sub from me.
Thanks!
Glad it helped you out, have a few more videos lines up looking to do the same thing. Really incredible what these printers are capable of!
Very enlightening, straight to the point.
Thanks!
Thanks! Trying to keep these videos info packed!
Thanks for this video! I just got my Aquila almost completely assembled after having it just at a year now. I upgraded the extruder to metal dual gear, all metal hotend, and updated the firmware to Alex’s. I know the consensus is to print stock config first but I wanted it set up the way I wanted from the beginning. I hope I have not compounded any issues that needed to be resolved from the stock Aquila. Hopefully I’ll have something printed this weekend.
That's sounds awesome. It's a good idea to start small see how some prints go and then start adding on, but it's all about the experience and if doing it this way is right for you who's to says it's not! If there are any problems that arise come on back and we can help with them! Happy printing!
Yooooooo thank you mine was at 67mm when I was trying to get 100mm this literally solved all my problems thank you so much ❤❤❤❤❤
Welcome!!! These small calibrations are what play a huge role in our overall print quality, and I'm glad this video was able to get you there! Cheers!
Good job! You explained things clearly.
Thank you!
Thank you. Gonna start with my X2.
Great , good luck! Those X2s are great printers capable of some amazing prints. It may take a little more time to hone in your calibrations but in the end it's worth it.
Appreciate this! Helped me out a lot!
Happy to help, PID tuning video upcoming this week.
Nice work Leo
Thanks Ray! I always appreciate your feedback and that you take time to add something, I'm truly grateful!
Only 2K subscribers! This guy really knows his stuff.
Ken, you're too kind! I just love 3d printing and am willing to help anyone I can! Thanks for leaving a comment.
Very good, you can explain very well, there are few like you. Thank you!
Thank you so much, I do my best! Thanks for leaving a comment !
Excellent tutorial!
Thank you so much! I appreciate you taking the time to comment.
Best budget printer out there. Love my Aquila. E steps are my last step before I am back printing after an extruder upgrade. Finger crossed I redid the bowden tube right though, my all metal hot end kept getting plugged up and went back to stock hotend, sure hope it isnt me messing up the bowden tubes... but I digress.
Good luck with it! A lot of times with an All Metal hot end you need to lower the retraction down to around 2-3mm or else it can get clogged. The Aquila really is an amazing printer, for the price the prints that it is capable of producing is astounding. All these machines need is a little TLC! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Very helpful video! Thanks!
Thank you for commenting and I'm glad the video helped!
I appreciate the tutorial, this did not work for me but it taught me a lot. These are not precision machines to the level of your calculation. I get swinging results on retests at same settings and different length extrudes. Honestly after lots of testing around the first method and learning the impact of the adjustments i just went with the factory setting and pivoting one decimal point at a time then 100mm and 50mm test. Up 0.1 to increase extrusion length and -0.1 to shorten. 93.3 was my most consistent number.
These machines certainly aren't the most precise but trying to get a solid number on the e-steps should not be out of their boundaries. You may not have had to make much of an adjustment at all, which sounds like that was the case, which is a good thing. In general with the stock equipment (ender3, aquila, etc) generally a number between 93-98 is usually correct. Thanks for watching!
just got a new extruder and this help me get it calibrated thank you!
I'm so happy this helped and that you got the new extruder up and running .
Thanks so much! It worked perfectly
You're welcome glad to be of some help ! Thanks for sharing your results I appreciate the comment !
Great video, thanks for this!
Thanks for the comment! I'm glad you enjoyed the video, and I appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment, really makes my day!
Exactly the video I was looking for! Thanks a lot!
Great, I'm glad I could help!
Dude, this red filament that comes with the printer is actually really good.
I've actually seen some really nice prints that people have produced with it. I personally never put it through my hot end as my roll showed up in a broken bag and was unsure how well it was stored prior to that. It works just fine for calibration though!
Haha I second that! I have almost used up all of the red that came with it just because of the really cool luster it has. Sucks because they don't seem to offer it on their site.
Thanks Leo. I was able to adjust the esteps now I have to calibrate flow. I did not know that was a thing too.
You're so very welcome! I went through the same epiphanies when I started, I had no clue where to begin! I'm glad this video was able to help you out.
Thanks for this video I just upgraded to a direct drive set up with a different extruder a dual gear and my E steps were way off now I am extruding exactly 100 mm.
This was great! Just bought this printer last week. Liked and subscribed 👍
Thanks for the compliment ! This printer is really a wonderful machine you're going to have a great time with it!
Why does this video have only 165 Likes? What an amazingly helpful video. Good sh.
Lol thanks so much! I'll take all the likes I can get lol
I like your videos on the Aquila machines. But my question is how can I make the hot end shroud Like you have on your Aquila. Are there a place to download it, if so can you tell me we’re I can go for it.
Thank you. Walter
Walter, I am using a shroud called the "Satsana" fan shroud. There are a few versions of this shroud. One has a mount if you have a bed probe (bl touch or similar device) and one comes without the mount
Satsana Fan Shroud Original: www.thingiverse.com/thing:4369859
Satsana fan Shroud for BL Touch: www.printsleo3d.com/models
Thanks for watching and if you need anything else let me know!
Thank you !!!!!
You're very welcome ! Thanks for leaving a comment!!
Hello my friend, I love the video! It helped alot! I would like to ask though, could you invest in a lapel microphone? Perhaps a blue tooth model so that way we can hear you better?
This is one of my first videos, and since then I have been slowly trying to upgrade my microphones. I currently have a blue tooth lapel mic! The quality has been hit or miss, so I am on the third one at this point, but I am using a new video editor as well (DaVinci Resolve) which helps me adjust the level of my voice while I edit! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment!
@@PrintsLeo3D right on! Oh yeah, my extruded was off by 3mm. Not anymore! :-)
That's what I like to hear!
great sir
Thank you for watching and for leaving a comment!
Hi, I am a beginner and I watch your videos which I really like because the explanations are very well done. I modified my Aquila S2 with sprite pro and added CR-Touch. Here I am now on the settings. I'm trying to adjust the e-step but find I have a lot of lag. I ask for 100mm extrusion and get 22mm. My question is: is it normal to have such a large lag? so I have to put 422.7 in the settings knowing that the base setting was 93?
Yes this is common when going from the single geared default extruded to a dual gear extruder (which now incorporates gear ratios). If you are adjusting your esteps and not seeing any changes make sure you are saving the new estep values from the menu before performing any new tests.
thank you
You're welcome ! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Great video. I have 3 Aquila printers. I've run the test on each and the reading are WAY off. I even ran 200mm to make sure I was looking at the right formula. Here is what I got. 200 expected, 145 actual with 110 E-Steps. That would come up with a new E-Step of 151.6 That sounds WAY high. I have upgraded all 3 printers with Winnsinn all metal dual gear extruders. All 3 are show the same 140-152 adjusted E-Steps. Could this be right? Am I under extruding by %35? Right now my prints look great. BTW, flow rates are %100.
I'm glad you liked the video! With a standard extruder those numbers sound pretty high, but with a dual gear metal extruder not so much. I believe I was near the same numbers when I installed my dual gear metal extruder. I can't remember now, but I think my E-steps were somewhere around 130-160. If you were under extruding but at 100% flow it's possible to not notice a problem , but over the long term trying to dial in certain calibrations would be an issue. Best now to get the esteps right (just like you did) and then adjust the flow, which I am going to assume is going to drop to somewhere around 95%
One other thing is a warning about those all metal dual gear extruders. The majority of those extruders don't have a washer or gasket underneath the second gear that's in the tensioner arm. Without that washer the gear will slowly eat away at the tensioner arm. This will cause a buildup up of grime and metal shavings. That leads to the impairment or failure of the extruder. So please keep an eye on that the more and more you print.
Thanks again for watching!!!
@@PrintsLeo3D Winnsinn just upgraded their extruder with a washer. I've gone through several because the gear kept eating into bottom.
That's great to hear. So many peope had bad experiences I'm glad they listened and improved.
good call on the stock filament, finally, a use! lol
Yea I figured it was useful somewhere lol
So I've done the first cube and came out with a new flow rate of 97.7%. I've updated my slicer and reprinted and now I'm getting an average across the 4 walls of 0.775. if I run that through the calculation again I'm getting 103.2% but that can't be right - is there a different calculation to fine-tune once you're not at 100% starting value?
Even if I times my current value (97.7%) by the new figure (1.032) that still brings me up to a new flow rate above my first print which was too thick.
Hey Nick! To be honest your exact problem is one of the reasons I have been moving away from this method and moving to a less exacting method (with better user experience). Calipers measuring walls can leave room for some errors. In your case I would print at 98% and check the walls. If they're still a little thin I would to to 99% then 99.5% until the dimensions got more exact.
Love the video, 1 question I am getting feeding issues, i see some wear on the brass gear. I get some slippage. About how many hours do the brass gears hold up?
Thanks for commenting! I've never really experienced much degredation at all in the brass feeder gears. You bring up a great point though, I am trying hard to remember the last time I really inspected that gear and I can't think of a recent time, which makes.mr think I need to get a better handle on my maintenance inspections. If the feeder gear on your machine is/starting to wear it might be time to look into replacing the extruder. I have a video that showcases some dual gear extruders, and that's the path I would take. Now if you're talking about the brass inlet hole on the outside of the stock extruder ? That does wear sooner than later and I would certainly replace my extruder if that was showing wear.
@@PrintsLeo3D do you have a recommendation on a direct replacement for the aquila extruder?
If you're looking for the same type of extruder, I would look for an all metal version as they end up holding up better. Hictop is a brand I have never had an issue with, I have never bought their extruders but their other equipment had been quality
HICTOP All Metal Extruder Upgraded Replacement Aluminum MK8 Extruder Drive Feed for Creality 3D Printer Ender 3/3Pro CR-10, CR-10S, CR-10 S4, and CR-10 S5 www.amazon.com/dp/B0761PGLZ4/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_Y44WW2G51E57NCV0PM30?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
If you up wanted to "upgrade" then I'd recommend the BMG clone. It's a drop in replacement but it does operate differently so I'd recommend watching my dual gear extruder video. I didn't buy one from the below seller but this is the type of extruder.
BCZAMD 3D Printer Accessories Upgrade Extruder Plastic Dual Drive Extruder 1.75mm for Tev Tornad Wanhao D9 CR10 Ender3 V2 Ant E10 Black www.amazon.com/dp/B07RBL4CJC/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_YJ4NKVB6GPMFKBN695WA
@@PrintsLeo3D just want to say thanks for all your help and responses. I got the new dual extruder and followed your calibration video to a T. I had some problems and backed my feed rate back 20% and now I'm back to solid prints!
I'm happy to hear you got a new extruder and are back to printing! Glad I could help wherever I could I love this hobby and the more people who are happy and printing the better! Love to hear you go a dual gear extruder as well! Can I ask which type of dual gear you settled on?
What replacement piece did you get for the stringing issue? And or where can i also acquire one 😂
I have been pretty lucky to not contend with too much stringing over the lifetime of this printer lol I think I owe a lot to the Capricorn bowden tube, new pneumatic couplers (screw into the hot end/extruder), and all metal hot end. Of course the calibrations of all these things helps as well lol
been tryin to print, PIP fidget toys, but seem to be over extruding, i will be tryin both methods to see if i am under or over
Question: how often do you need to do this? I mean other than after a complete overhaul or replacing the extruder itself, is this something I should do often, once or maybe after a certain number of print hours?
thanks for the link for the calipers, I'm in need of a digital set, I'm still going old school
You pretty much got it! Only whenever you replace some main aspect of the extrusion system , or sometimes if your print quality starts to suffer than it can always be a good idea to circle back to the basics. Those calipers have been working great for me and the price is right.
So, the formula doesn't seem to work for me. My extruder was spitting out 91mm and my original e-step was 93.0 punching those into the calculator gave me 102.1 or 102.2 and with both of those new values it extrudes way too much filament.
There are times when the first calculation is not enough and you'll need to continue the calibration. After you add the new E step value (102.2) and ask it to extrude 100mm, what is the result? Also extruding only 91mm is a lot lower than normal. It might be a good idea to check your extruder and make sure there is no damage and it is operating properly. Make sure the tension arm is tight enough and the gear on the extruder is not slipping while extruding.
How is it that the flow is 0.7mm on one side of the cube but 0.8mm on the other sides? Are you just taking the average, and is it because of how the callipers rounds numbers up or down? How does the callipers do this rounding?
For example does a reading of 0.7mm mean it's between 0.650-0.749mm, and 0.8mm is between 0.750 and 0.849mm?
Or does it mean that anything over 0.7mm gets rounded up to 0.8mm?
I could see how it would make sense in the former situation, but this could still suggest that since it's assumed that the printer is extruding evenly, then all the sides are close to 0.749-0.750mm.
Does this make sense?
Yes even you said makes perfect sense and you're right about the calipers. I'm going to make a follow up to this video and use my newly purchased calipers that are more accurate and offer a measurement to the hundredth (0.xx) of a mm. The calipers in this video only will show one spot to the right of the decimal point which is so limiting and really should not be used. So whether the reading is 0.71 or 0.79 it will only show 0.7 which is misleading. I have a link to the bre calipers I purchased (and recommend) in the description.
@@PrintsLeo3D Ah right. So the old callipers only showed the first digit of the measurement (obviously!) but it didn't do any rounding of the number. I suppose that makes sense.
So it's possible without the accuracy you could even have made it worse, for example if the sides were 0.83, 0.85, 0.85, 0.79, you could have brought it to 0.86, 0.88, 0.89, 0.83 or something!
But still, I suppose getting the idea across was the important part, and I definitely learned something. And a few hundredths of a mm probably isn't going to be catastrophic anyway!
Thanks!
Yeah, you're absolutely right, it worked to get the point across but in the future I will be using my newer calipers! Thanks again for offering such great questions and comments, I always try and direct everyone to the comment section because there's additional information there and you are a huge contributor in helping other people who are going to have the same or similar questions.
I followed your instructions to the point but I extruded less filament. Did the same formula with the new settings and again I extruded less filament. Can you please advise? Cheers
Hey Andrew! There have been times when some people had extruder related issues (gear not tight, poor filament path, etc) that caused some issues. Can you remember the numbers and the math you used. I would be able to give a more complete answer if I know the path you took with the numbers. Also what type of printer and extruder combo are you using?
@@PrintsLeo3D thanks for replying I’ll forward the sums when I get home. 👍🏻
@@PrintsLeo3D 100 / 96 = 1.04166667 x 93 = 96.9 after that I got 92.6 mm of extruded plastic.
Thankyou for the videos they are deffinately helping me 👍🏻
That looks good to me. The two things I would check are:
Make sure the new E-step number is being saved between testing. (and you are entering at the correct menu)
The extruder: If this is an Aquila or Ender 3 with the stock plastic extruder it's very likely the plastic tensioner arm has a slight crack in it which will sometimes not tension the filament correctly as it's extruded. I have ran into that before when someone else was having the same issues you're experiencing.
Awesome video, as usual. I really like the concept behind the first method, seems a lot easier, but I'm a little confused. You extruded 100mm, measured, adjusted, and then extruded another 100mm which measured correctly, according to the summary of the two methods, we should be done at this point. In the video you went on to test extruding thru the hot end, measuring and marking the filament, and it was back to extruding only 98mm again, which you further compensated the already adjusted e-step value for, and got back to 100mm again. Am I missing something? I really want method one to work but it kind of looks like you just proved it doesn't, or should you have ran a third extrusion to confirm you were actually getting 100mm using method one?? It seems like you may need the filament to be under the load of passing thru the hot-end to get an accurate extrusion measurement. What am I missing here??
Also, just a reminder, the Aquila will auto-load as long as the filament is thru the extruder and started in the bowden tube and it will auto-unload also. Both features will require a hot-end preheat and will take you to the preheat menu if required. Thanks for being one of the few channels that support the Aquila. Is it just me or are the Ender clone haters particularly threatened/triggered by the Aquila? Lol!! Thanks again!!
First off thank you so much for taking the time to ask such an in depth question! These questions are really what fuel my channel, as it helps clear up the issues I forgot to cover or didn't cover well enough. You are also right on the money with your question. After performing the first set of extrusions and compensations, when we get to 100mm we are done. The only reason I decided to perform an additional calibration through the bowden tube and from the hot end was simple to demonstrate that process for viewers in case they 1.) wanted to do it that way or 2.) have seen it done that way and wanted to let them know there is a better option available. Now the fact that we got a different number from the hot end was the precise reason why I don’t prefer this method. We saw that we got 100mm direct from the extruder motor (which is what we wanted), but once we added the additional impediments of the Bowden tube and the nozzle the number wasn’t correct (and created a great example of what adding those elements can do to our flow). If we were to adjust our E-steps to this setup we are adjusting our E-steps to this specific setup of filament, bowden tube, nozzle, temperature, etc. I don’t want my E-steps to be dictated by any one specific setup, because if I change the filament or the nozzle my E-steps will have to be re-adjusted which is a pain. Any changes I have to make after replacing filament or a nozzle are better (and easier) to be done in your slicer using flow. I want to get an E-step number that is calibrated to my Extruder Motor. Our extruder motor is our only constant in our setups, no matter what we change that motor will always be the same, and we want that to be consistent, so when I ask for 100mm that’s what the motor will give me, if I am not getting that number once it’s going through my hot end I would much rather tweak those settings in the slicer. All different filaments at different temperatures will likely require a different flow, (although it’s generally negligible so once we set it once we don’t really have to tweak it).
I don’t know why I never use the auto-unload feature (on purpose anyway, there are times I went to ‘cooldown’ and accidentally hit auto-unload lol), but it’s worth noting that it’s likely a better option because many people have mentioned this. As far as the haters go, I think it’s like anything else, once people feel part of a community they’ll defend it adamantly, whether that’s the Creality community or other. I am a member of the “inexpensive and excellent printer” community, so anything that falls within those parameters I will stand behind lol so I love Enders, Aquilas, and now that I have dabbled in the Eryone market, ER-20s!
I hope this explanation makes sense , if not you know where to find me lol
@@PrintsLeo3D Makes perfect sense, I got to thinking after I posted the question that maybe the first method is best for the stepper and second method was more flow related, but thought I might be over thinking it. Cool. I'm in the process of printing some custom legos for my grand-kids. Talk about something that points out every accuracy flaw in your printer set-up, lol. Thanks again!
@@PrintsLeo3D Damn, that's a fantastic explanation!
I'm new to printing, and just did my first benchy on the Aquila. It came out quite well except for a little stringing, and the infill seems to be pushing a W pattern through the hull. I think I'll do this calibration soon. Might be extruding too much.
Thanks..
Thanks! This is a pretty easy calibration that can really pay dividends. Also if you are seeing the infill through the walls of your print (and assuming it's not transparent PLA or PETG) then you should consider increasing the wall count in your slicer. Under the WALLS tab of Cura there's a section that can increase the amount of walls (or perimeters) your model has. Additionally adding walls also increases its strength as opposed to increasing the infill percentage! Good luck and thanks for doing the discussion!
@@PrintsLeo3D I just found another Cura setting called "infill before walls" and the description basically says that if it's turned on then the infill may show in the walls, but if the infill is laid after the walls then if can affect overhangs and strength.
I suppose it's all about knowing your settings and making the best choice for a particular print, or printer.
When I did this it was VERY inconsistent. First test: E steps: 93 mm: 97 test 2: e steps: 95.4 mm: 102. I did some more and eventually I got this from the formula: E steps: 87 mm: 35. And then this: E steps: 92.5 mm: 148. Is it a mechanic Issue? I don’t know how to fix it. Any tips?
Something certainly seems off. Are you performing this test directly off the extruder ? What I would do is reset the esteps to 93 and save those settings. Then start the test from scratch. Extrude the 100mm and see what it gives you (I assume it would be 97ike the first test). If that's the case adjust the E-steps to 95.9 and try again. If you want to send some videos or photos you can email me or reach out to me through the Discord.
@@PrintsLeo3D I will try to do it all again. I’m doing it exactly how you did. I removed the tube and cut it flush. I extruded 100 mm and cut and measured. Then I did the formula and tried again. If I can’t fix it I will send some videos.
It sounds like you're doing everything right. If these anomalies persist definitely reach out to me with some more media
I have a problem with that printer cause my build plate keeps shifting and it messes up my print is their a way to fix it
Mario! Yea there's a few ways to stabilize a build plate in place. What kind of surface are you using ? Is it glass? Also is this a Voxelab Aquila or something else ?
@@PrintsLeo3D I’m using a Voxelab Aquila C2 printer 220x220x250
@@PrintsLeo3D it’s a glass plate
The clips that held the glass plate onto my original Aquila were very weak. I ended up using binder clips (you could find at any office supply store) to secure the bed in place. Ultimately I would recommend something like a PEI bed sheet instead of glass, but that's up to you. I have a video about pei you may want to check out!
hi buddy any chance you have a good Cura profile for this printer I could really use one thanks
The profile I recommend using is for the CREALITY Ender 3 Pro. Under add machines, go to non-networked printer, find the Creality3d drop-down. Scroll down and select the Ender 3 Pro and go from there! It has great starting g-code and settings, the Aquila is basically a clone of the Ender 3. If you want to see my exact profile drop me a line at printsleo3d@gmail.com and I can send it!
Can you remake this for the Aquila S2?
That's a really great idea, thanks for the suggestion! I actually filmed a brief e-step calibration when I did my first impressions for the S2 but it just hit the cutting room floor. Being able to perform this calibration on direct extruders though is really important! Adding this to the queue, hopefully sooner than later.
There's no room on my extruder to slip an extruder knob on to. Suggestions?
Unfortunately on the newer releases of the Aquila the extruder gear is pressed on. This leaves no gap on the stepper motor arm to slip the extruder knob onto. Trying to remove the gear can be a tricky, and for just an extruder knob I wouldn't recommend it. If at some point you look to replace your extruder (if it's the stock extruder I highly recommend it - to a dual gear extruder) then at that time you can look into trying to remove the gear. Until that I wouldn't bother trying to mess around with it.
Which fan shroud did you print, and can it take a BL touch?
The shroud I used is not equipped with a BL Touch but the author of the design does provide a model with that available. The fan shroud I'm using is a modified version of The Satsana, it has been raised 2mm higher to better clear the Aquila bed, this is the link (remix by THESUBARUJUNKIE) :
cults3d.com/en/3d-model/tool/satsana-fan-shroud-for-voxelab-aquila
The fan shroud that THESUBARUJUNKIE modified from can be found here: www.thingiverse.com/thing:4792632
@@PrintsLeo3D Thanks, that was one I was looking at. I've heard it cuts down on some of the fan noise, did you notice a difference?
I didn't notice a difference in fan noise to be honest. For me the fan noise for the Hot End was quieter on my Aquila than on my Ender 3 V2(which the Aquila is modeled off of), it's the electronics fan in the base of the Aquila on mine that causes more noise.
This helped a lot thanks! Prints were always ok, I found it was under extruding by almost 1cm. Then the flow rate of the cube seemed too much as each side was 0.85-0.87 (depending on caliper accuracy) so actually dialled down the flow to 96%. Looks pretty good now! thanks.
Great to hear and happy to help! I should have an additional flow related video coming in the future that showcases a new method I am using. Thanks for watching and for leaving a comment to let me know this helped you !
Hi there. Can you do calibration with prusaslicer? Please
I don't use Prusaslicer, but I believe you can use the same steps in that software. I will download Prusaslicer and try and get comfortable with it enough to make a video using it :)
looking for the port to connect PC to the Aquila, is there one?
Yes the physical port for the connection is on the front of the machine, right next to where you insert the SD card.
@@PrintsLeo3D thanks I was looking for the old printer type like cr10
This process has not worked for me. At all. I go133t the metal dual extruder, which has smaller diameter rollers. As noted in the comments below, the step setting of 93 pushes 63.9mm of filament. Using the formula I get a step setting of 143.3, which pushes 133.2mm of filament. Doing it again then lowers it to below 100mm, and so on. I also tried working out the position based on the two datapoints, which gave me a step around 120, and yielded 80something mm of filament. I can't think of any other solution, I am guessing the development is non-linear.
That's pretty frustrating. I'm trying to think of other possible causes and I'm not coming up with many alternatives. This feels like inconsistent extrusion, which would make me think the pressure on the filament may be the cause. Also before you replaced the extruder had you done an E-step calibration with the stock extruder? If so was it successful? Is it possible the stepper motor itself is damage and instead of rotating around a center axis its slightly concentric, causing the filament to be pushed inconsistently. Can you link me to the extruder you purchased? If you want to email me we can trade some pics/vids of the issue and maybe get to the bottom of this. Printsleo3d@gmail.com
this the X1?
Are you asking if this is the BambuLabs X1? No it's not, I wish though lol If I had this printer when I made this video I would be way ahead of the curve!
@@PrintsLeo3D my voxelab Aquila is the X1 is this a different Aquila? Doesn't look like the X2 either
Only problem with the ruler is that you have the blank space in the ends which you'll most likely factor into your measurement
A few of my rulers are like this so I try and take it into account when making these measurements. It I didn't during the video it's probably just because it was easier to film with the filament all the way to the end lol thanks for watching and thank you for both the comments !
Why not just use the automatic unload option. I know pulling it may be faster. Just curious
Yea just faster, I've been doing it like that forever. When I auto unload , usually during a print, it works but sometimes it can loosen up my spool if I'm not careful. So really I've just been doing it this way so long I don't even think about it.
Idk why I’m having trouble doing my calibration for 100mm.
If I do 125 it’s reading at 80mm if I do 130 it’s over 100mm! I need HELP!! Someone told me to pid tunes also. It still won’t work!! I need help with someone with a MAC!!
I would love to be able to help , I just want to make sure I understand what is going on. Have you adjusted your e-step number yet? factory settings start it at 93, is it still there? What happens in you Move 100mm worth of filament through your extruder, using the LCD panel. Of course you want to make sure you disconnect the bowden tube so the filament isn't making it's way toward the nozzle. Then snip the filament that was extruded and measure it, what size do you measure?
@@PrintsLeo3D thanks for the fast reply, it really means a lot to us subscriber! You do explain clearly in the process step by step! Keep them coming! Love them!!! I changed out to my new extruder that I bought from Amazon. 1st thing I did was told it to give me 100mm the way it is. It gave me about 2.5 inches. I’m telling you in inches because I’m not 100% sure in mm lol I’m not home right to Measure it. I cut the filament flush 2nd I changed it to 125 and it gave me 3in then I went back and changed it to 130 it gave me 5 or 6in? Idk why I’m doing everything your saying! Every time I change it do I have to save it to save parameters? I’m cutting it off at the end of the extruder not the hot end! Thanks
Don't be discouraged, it sounds like your doing everything right, it's just the process, sometimes you can nail it down in one try and sometimes it takes a few to get the right number. Obviously the process get's more accurate when you are measured down to the MM but it's no bother we'll work with what we have lol In your first measurement you got around 2.5 inches which we can estimate as 64mm, we can plug that into our formula. Asked for [100] got [64] = 1.5625. Then we multiply that number by our current E-step(I'm assuming you started at the stock number)[93], so 1.5625 x 93 = 145.3. So you could then set your e-steps to 145.3 and extrude another 100mm. Overall you're going to want just shy of 4inches which is 101 mm. Just from your estimations it sounds like you want a number just under 130, as that's where it started to over extrude(5-6 inches). You don't need to 'Store Configuration' after each change, only when you have the right number inserted, because once you turn off the printer the E-step number will not be saved. Also which extruder did you buy? With those numbers I imagine you bought the All-Metal dual gear extruder? Good luck, let me know how it goes!
@@PrintsLeo3D I did the 145 I got 145mm or I say 5.5inches. I email me mkue.1987@gmail.com I got winding ender 3 cr10 pro dual gear extruder.
using the formula, i still cant get the right amount
ive done it 10 times and it turns out difforent each time
Do You know what I should do?
Hey I'm so sorry for such a late reply. Are you still having issues with this ?
@@PrintsLeo3D It is ok. I am still getting prints out ok, but the e step is still weird. It will print out 100 mm then the next time with the same estep print out 112. I replaced the extruder, with a new dual gear extruder, replaced the nozzle, and the Bowden tube.
That's really weird. It can be tricky to get it to work at first, but if you're getting good prints then there's no reason to mess with it.
The value without going through the heat-block will be the same for every filament (as there is no back-pressure and hence no difference in slippage of the filaments). So, this number should be a constant for your printer and hence can indeed be measured with your sample filament. When measuring the path through the hotend, the result will vary per filament, so it doesn't help doing that with the sample filament, you should use the actual filament you'll print with. I prefer tuning E-steps without going through the hotend and then put all the filament-specific behavior in the extrusion factor.
I completely agree, I prefer measuring the E-steps directly off the extruder. I should have been more clear in the video because a few people have brought that to my attention, but the only reason I even presented calibrating e-steps through the hot end was just because I have seen other people demonstrate it that way and I wanted to present an alternate method to people because they might see it online somewhere. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment, I really appreciate it!
did exactly what you did kept ending up with around 88.9mm
Are you talking about the e-step portion? Are you performing the calibration right off the cold end extruder ?
@@PrintsLeo3D i ended up getting it sorry! :)
No problem at all, thanks for leaving a message! If you need anymore help let me know!
Your calipers have 0.1 accuracy, so for 0.75 or 0.84 will still show 0.8 - so your measures are useless
First off I appreciate you looking into this, it made me go back and reevaluate my calipers. However I strongly disagree with your assertion that these measurements are useless. To me that sort of 'all or nothing' thinking is more likely to make people shy away from even attempting to calibrate their machines.
"Well, my calipers aren't accurate enough why bother?"
I think that attitude is wrong. Most people, I believe, aren't getting into this hobby because they are in the aerospace field or a major science, they simply are interested in 3d printing. I think promoting calibration, even if it isn't as accurate as we may want, is a good thing. I think getting people to be more familiar with their machines , the process, and even some of the language of the hobby is a good thing. When I started printing, calipers were another expense I had to weigh against my tiny hobby budget, I couldn't spend too much but I still wanted access. Looking back now it's even hard to read all the fine print for my particular model and find out how accurate they really are. Does that make me think these measurements are useless? Absolutely not. Does it make me want to expand my budget , reevaluate the importance of a more accurate measurement? Absolutely. So I really appreciate you bringing up this topic, I think people should use what they have at their disposal - at their budget - but at the same time I think we need to be mindful of the possible limitations of our equipment.
@@PrintsLeo3D Then you probably should mention the consequences of usage of calipers with 0.1 accuracy? I agree that promoting something like that is beneficial, but unfortunately less experienced users will not get expected results - and this might create even more confusion.
Yes, definitely! I plan on adding something similar to a disclaimer in the description of the video, this way everyone who views this video will consider the ramifications of using their particular measuring devices. Whether they can affect any change on their tools will be up to the individual person, but at least they will be aware of the possible limitations/inaccuracies.
@@PrintsLeo3D where did you even find calipers with such a low resolution? Ipaid $25 for mine on amazon, Neiko brand, and they're accurate to .02mm
Amazon will sell anything